


Changing History: Katie Walker

by Guardian_of_Hope



Series: Strangers are Friends [3]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Time Force
Genre: F/M, Family, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-13
Updated: 2011-06-13
Packaged: 2017-10-20 09:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/211399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_of_Hope/pseuds/Guardian_of_Hope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katie Walker, Time Force Yellow</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Katie twitched in her seat as the voices in the office became raised, or rather, one voice did, "Rookies! Commander, you can't possibly expect…"

It didn't sound like Ranger Collins was taking their arrival very well. Katie sneaked a glance at the three others waiting in the conference room. The three men were all trying to look unconcerned, but every time Ranger Collins's voice was loud enough to be heard, one flinched, one winced and the third stared at the door. Katie tried to stay calm, but she was nervously excited, especially when she let herself think about why she was sitting in the conference room. She had been chosen to train for the position of Power Ranger. Katie knew that she wasn't even one of the top one hundred choices, but for the past year, Ranger Collins had weeded through Time Force, looking for people to take up the morphers that had belong to his team. People said that he wouldn't let anyone take a morpher; that Time Force would do better to request another set from Eltare. Katie was determined to prove them wrong.

The door slammed open and Katie got her first live glance at Ranger Collins. His angry glare raked over each of them, and he turned, "Fine. I'll give them a chance. If they can't take it, they're gone." He said.

"Very well," the Commander said.

Collins strode through the conference room, and Katie scrambled to her feet, snatching up her bag as she did so. Collins turned at the door, noted Katie, and then glared at the three men, "Do I have to give you orders to breathe? Come on!"

They scrambled up, looking mortified, and moved to join them. "Sorry sir," one of the men, an Asian man, said.

"Don't be sorry, learn to think," Collins replied. He turned and led them from the conference room. Katie followed him, sensing that he wouldn't appreciate conversation. One of the men, not the Asian, but a blond, moved to walk beside him. "No," Collins said before the man could say anything.

Katie hid a smile at the man's nonplussed expression; clearly he'd hoped to at least get his question, or statement, out. They entered the cross-base transport, and Katie noticed there were a number of Time Force Agents looking at the resentfully. Two glared at Collins with open hatred. Katie found a seat beside one of the women who was steadfastly ignoring all of them. "What's your name?" The woman asked as the transport started again.

"Katie," Katie replied.

"Katie," the woman said, "if you can make two weeks, I'll win. Please, try to make two weeks."

Katie smirked, looked like the betting pool was already started, "I can't bet on myself," she said, equally softly, "but I'd say that I can do that, at least."

"I didn't make it two days," the woman said, "Collins is tough on rookies."

"I'm a lot stronger than I look," Katie replied. She saw Collins looking at her and Katie gave him a grin, "So, I didn't catch your name?" She added as the transport stopped.

"Tamara," the woman said, "good luck." She slipped past Katie and off the transport.

Collins led them off the transport at the Ranger Wing, where they were given new ids and assigned rooms. "You have an hour," Collins told them, "then we'll start."

Katie entered her room, and looked around, and then she walked back out. Collins was walking into the lounge, so Katie took a deep breath and walked up to him. "Sir, I can't live in that room," she said bluntly.

"All the rooms are the same," Collins replied.

"With all due respect, sir, that room is pink." Katie replied. "I don't do pink."

"What, you want a red room?" Collins asked.

"Yellow," Katie said, "I'd prefer yellow."

"Not sure what you expect me to do about it," Collins said.

Katie considered her options, "Then may I have permission to purchase yellow sheets? I can deal with the rest of it."

"When I introduce you to the staff, you can talk to them," Collins replied.

"Thank you sir," Katie said. She went back into her room trying to figure out if she's managed to impress him or amused. Either could actually be good. She unpacked her bag and dressed in her black and yellow work out gear. Then she grabbed the book she'd been reading and went to relax in the lounge. Collins was still there, he was seated at a terminal, staring at the screen with an intense concentration that made it seem as if he was ignoring her. As Katie settled onto one of the chairs and opened her book, she didn't doubt that he was well aware of her actions.

Training was fun, Collins was brutal, when he 'killed' you, and there were bruises to remind you. Over the course of the training, Katie learned that her fellow 'rookies' were Lee, the Asian, Peter, the blond, and Andy, a dark skinned man from the South American continent. None of them could get on Collins' good side, but Katie thought the fact that she wasn't afraid to get hurt earned her bonus points. It took a week before the first of the men quit; Lee had broken his arm in training. He didn't come back from the infirmary, choosing to take a job as a prison guard instead.

Collins took Lee's departure as a sign and came down hard on the three remaining. Katie wondered if Collins saw it as a failure on his part, or simply vindication that none of them were meant to be Rangers. Then, they got their first assignment. A group of thieves were holed up in a warehouse, Collins would go in first, and then Andy and Pete would follow. Katie was assigned to cover the back entrance. What they weren't told was that one of the thieves was a cyborg, and inherently stronger. When the girl came bursting out the back, Katie shouted, "Time Force, freeze," as she held up her badge.

The girl laughed and kicked, Katie had seen Collins working out fully morphed, he only fought androids morphed. When the girl's foot hit her shoulder, she spun and caught herself wondering if this was what it would feel like if she'd sparred with Collins full morphed. As she spun, however, Katie's body was following the patterns she'd trained into it. Her foot came up, fueled by the spin and her advanced genetics, and she connected with the girl's gut in a near-perfect hurricane kick. The girl fell backwards into a dumpster and hit the ground.

Before she could get up, Katie knelt down, planting a knee just over her kidneys and produced her handcuffs. "You are under arrest," Katie began, snapping the cuffs.

"I'll take it from here," Collins said, coming up beside her.

Katie stood up, bringing the girl with her, "I've got her, sir."

"I see that, Smith," Collins said, "but I'd better, unless you want it to get around."

Katie glanced at Collins, but his helmet prevented her from reading his expression. "Yes sir," Katie said, finally. She waited until Collins had her in hand and then stepped away.

After Collins left, Andy and Pete showed up to flank her, "What was that about?" Pete asked.

Katie shrugged, "It's personal, Pete. Did you get everybody else?"

"Yes," Andy said, "that girl was the only one who ran."

"Great," Katie said. She smiled at the two, "I'm hungry, let's go get pizza."

Two weeks later, Collins threw Pete out of the Ranger program. He also threw him physically across the commander's office. Katie didn't learn the whole story until Collins came back with two new recruits. Pete had hacked her records to find out what Katie's secret was and had gone to Collins in a fit of genetic-phobia. If Andy knew, Katie had seen no signs of discomfort. Pete had been drummed out of Time Force for hacking records. Collins had thrown him across the office for his speech against Katie being allowed in Time Force. Katie was sure that Collins didn't know that she knew that part.

The two newbies were a girl named Tina and a boy named Lucas Kendall. Even Katie had heard of Kendall, the well known race driver had been black listed in Time Force after arresting his own partner for accepting bribes and stealing cars. Collins was already glaring at Kendall, clearly the man's 'promotion' to the Ranger Program hadn't been well received by the Red Ranger. Tina looked torn between tears and fainting when she went into her room, Katie's old pink one. Katie private bet she would leave in the first week.

Tina lasted two days before Collins's berating her shooting technique sent her into tears. She ran, not even stopping for her things. Katie heard later that she was working with kids at the day care. Kendall faced Collins and his disgust everyday with calm and even a hint of cheer. Up until the day he helped Collins bust Andy for selling Time Force technology on the black market. Katie hadn't even known the sting was going down, Collins told her that it was because Katie couldn't lie or keep a secret if she tried. Katie responded by swiping Collins's favorite shirt and stashing it in the pink bedroom.

The arrival of Jennifer Scott (call me Jen), saw the return of the shirt, and Collins busted Lucas for the 'prank'. Jen's arrival saw Lucas going to number two on Collins' black list. The spunky young woman was so determined for Collins to like her that Katie was sure she'd go running in a week. Jen stayed, and two weeks in, Katie actually saw Collins smile at her. Well it was a smirk, but still, Katie had never seen Collins voluntarily smile at someone.

The third week, the four of them spent on Inquiris, trying to get information on a suspect. Being the only humans in a culture where questions were required led Katie to collapse in the suite and call it the worst team building exercise ever. Collins told her to suck it up and stop calling him Collins. Week four, they first met Trip, a green haired alien from Xybria. He joined the team to help track down cyber-thieves. That was a five week operation, ending successfully.

The next time they had a tech-crime, Alex requested Trip. After the fifth time, Trip was simply promoted to the Ranger Program. Two more missions and then they were handed the big one. Ransik.

Ransik was the last of the major criminals on Earth. He killed operatives without a thought. Nobody had even managed to catch him. Katie thought Alex saw Ransik as his redemption. Certainly he went after Ransik with enough passion to confirm such a suspicion.

It took time. Time to track Ransik's movements, time to identify the key members of his 'movement' and time to plan how to take each of them out. Three years, they hunted Ransik, until finally, they had him. Katie couldn't really fathom that they'd pulled it off. All that was left was taking Ransik to prison.

All. Katie thought, looking around the time ship. All had been Alex dead, and Jen going crazy, and Ransik disappearing with the prisoners. She looked at Lucas and Trip, saw her fear and grief in their eyes, and closed her own. Jen needed them, no matter how crazy it was to steal a time ship and go after Ransik. As they went through the time hole, Katie wondered if she'd even get a chance to hold a morpher.


	2. Chapter 2

Katie wasn't sure what drove her, but she was on a mission. She parked her bicycle at the beach. Sure enough, Lucas was there, looking at the water. She slipped down the bluff and walked over to stand beside him. "It doesn't look different, does it?" He asked.

Katie smiled, "No, probably cold though."

Lucas laughed, "You're right, it probably is."

"Are you doing ok, Luke?" Katie asked.

Lucas glared at her, but Katie gave him a saucy grin and a wink, "I'm fine," he said finally. "I just," Lucas looked back at the ocean, as if looking at her made it hard for him to say anything. "I'm just not sure about Jen. Part of it is how desperate she is to take down Ransik. She doesn't see anything but that. The rest of it is, she doesn't have that right. You rank her, so do I. We followed her because of Alex, but I'm not sure she's going the right way now."

"What do you want to do, revolt?" Katie asked. "Jen needs this; you heard her promise Alex that she'd do this. Alex chose us, maybe nobody else thought it would be us, but he chose us. Nobody wanted me, when they found out about my genetic manipulations they got rid of me. Alex thought that I was worth something. He took you when nobody else would touch you. I don't know if you know what he said after you joined. He told me that everybody hates a dirty cop, but they hated a squealer more, but a Ranger did the right thing over the easy thing and that's why he wanted you."

"He didn't want me," Lucas said, "He fought it so hard."

Katie snorted, "He asked for you, he just didn't want that idiot Tina."

"How do you know that?" Lucas asked.

"I was the only girl on the team and Alex can't type for beans," Katie replied with a chuckle, "I helped him with his reports. I filled out the requests for your transfers."

"So, what about Jen?" Lucas asked.

"Alex didn't want her. He felt she was too likely to put emotion first. He wanted someone else. Commander told Alex that if Jen didn't work out, he'd get the one he wanted." Katie said.

"You and Alex were close," Lucas commented.

"I wasn't afraid of him," Katie replied, "I didn't sass, and I kept my questions to a minimum. I rarely asked him to solve my problems, I asked for permission to solve them myself. I didn't know he liked me until I heard about Pete."

"That's the one he threw across the commander's office for bigotry, right?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah," Katie said, "we were just starting to date. Being on the Ranger track was good for that; we didn't have to worry about getting in trouble. In fact, the day after our first date is the day it happened." Katie's throat caught, "Alex- he waited for me to come back after the date. He didn't say anything, but he was in the lounge. Pete told me when we were out that Alex had warned him about hurting me."

Lucas slung his arm over her shoulder, "Yeah, when I went to Alex about that kid, Hendricks, he listened. I had to give him a source, but he listened. He didn't think twice about doubting me when I told him that my…source could provide proof. Not like Niko. I had to do all the work on my own. Thankfully, my sources for Niko were…willing to help out."

"Lucas, I know your file," Katie said. "I know who your sources are. I can understand why you won't say it, but I know, ok. I thought you'd want to know."

"I do have one question," Lucas said.

"Yeah?" Katie asked.

"If Alex wanted me on the team, why did he act like a complete…?"

"I don't know," Katie said, cutting him off, "I don't think it was because Alex didn't want a new team, not by the time we showed up. I think it was because he wanted to make sure his team didn't break over the little things. He wanted to be sure we could go the distance."

"I arrested my own partner for taking bribes and human trafficking," Lucas said, "and I knew exactly how people would react to that. He tried to kill me when I confronted him. How could Alex not know I could handle this?"

"I don't know," Katie said. She leaned into Lucas's side. "So what are we going to do about Jen?"

"I don't know," Lucas said, "the only thing I can think of is to not let her get killed."

"Well, that's one," Katie mused. "Let's say that two is not to get us or Trip killed."

"I can get on board with that. What about Wes?" Lucas asked.

"Him to, let's not kill him." Katie said. "I submit that recapturing Ransik should be on the list."

"All right," Lucas said. "I don't think it's high on my list."

"I can accept that," Katie agreed. She shivered as the wind shifted, "Let's not tell Jen."

"Let's not." Lucas agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

Jen found Katie in the clock tower, "What are you doing here?" She asked.

Katie turned to look at her and smiled, "Just thinking, Jen. He's back."

"Yeah," Jen said, she sat down at the table, "I can't believe it."

"I've been thinking," Katie said, "I'm going to start calling him Collins again."

"He hates that," Jen replied.

"That's why I do it. Maybe then he'll get that stick out of his ass," Katie sat down beside Jen, "I put in a lot of effort in removing that thing. I'm not happy that it's back."

"Why do you think he's acting like this?" Jen asked.

"The time stream changed," Katie said, "maybe in the change we weren't together as long. You weren't there back when he was bouncing people out of the Ranger program on a weekly basic. By the time you joined, it took two weeks. This is early Alex." She drew her knee up to rest on the bench, "Of course, we could also consider the fact that he's a pod person." Remembering the movie they'd watched with Wes, Jen laughed. "Now, to handle early Alex, you must be self reliant, unafraid and cheeky, but not too cheeky. Don't quit, don't let him know he's scored a hit. Clearly he knows us, probably as much from our psych profiles as from any personal contact. Alex hates reading records, almost as much as he hates gossip."

"This isn't going to be easy," Jen replied.

"But it will work out," Katie said. "As much as we want Wes back, we have Alex. He can do the job; you know that like I do. My only question is can he adapt?"

It turned out, Alex couldn't. The good thing is he realized that before he killed anyone. Katie took him aside before he left. "What?" Alex said.

"Collins," Katie replied, "look, I've been your teammate for five years. I've put up with a lot. Now, I don't know what you remember, I know for a fact that I pulled that stick out of your ass years ago. I'm not going to do it again. This time, you'll have to do it yourself; because there are four people waiting on you. We're your friends, _your team,_ but not like this. I don't know what's wrong, but it's like you just lost Nicole and the others all over again. If that's what it is, tell me. I put up with it once; I can handle it a second time if at the end of it I'm going to get my friend Alex back. The guy who threw a man across a room for me, and gave Lucas a place when nobody else would touch him, and gave Jen a chance when he really wanted that weapons expert. I want my friend back, Alex, we all do. We want the guy who gave us our chance. Go back to the future and see if you can figure out what happened to him." Katie turned and walked away, wishing she could turn off her ears when he called her name.

With Alex dealt with, Katie went back to trying to figure out just when Wes had replaced Alex as the team's red ranger. She remembered back when she hadn't thought that way. She remembered the list she and Lucas had made, how Wes had been their afterthought. It was hard, but she thought it might have been when he didn't give up. He was there, morpher or no. There was a quality to him that even Alex on his best days didn't have. It was odd, but it was there. Eric, too. Katie laughed at herself, because Eric had done his best to be alone, and now, she couldn't image a battle without him showing up.

"Katie."

Katie looked up, and smiled at Eric, "Hi Eric, imagine running into you here." Really, she never pictured Eric to be the mall sort.

"I could say the same to you," Eric said.

"I'm just looking, mostly." Katie said. "Want to grab some coffee?"

"I'm not here to socialize," Eric replied.

"You spoke to me first," Katie pointed out. She grinned at him, "I'll pay for the coffee, Eric. What's it going to do, kill you?" Eric's lips pressed together and Katie pushed her advantage, "Come on, Starbucks' is _right there,_ " she pointed, "and it's free, for you. I'll even get the biggest size."

"You drive a hard bargain," Eric said.

Katie grinned, grabbed his arm and headed for the Starbucks. As she did, her mind flashed to Alex and she faltered. At least they were at the shop, so Eric walked up to the counter while Katie realized just how emotionally alike Eric was to Alex. "Hey, Katie, aren't you paying," Eric called.

Katie grinned, "Sure." She said, pulling her money from her pocket.


	4. Chapter 4

Katie found Trip in the time ship, "You ok?" She asked.

"I'm worried," Trip replied. "We aren't going to let them take our memories. That means they'll have to punish us."

"They can't split us up, we're a Ranger team." Katie replied.

"They'll try," Jen said, coming into the ship. "Come on, let's go somewhere else." She led them to where Lucas was waiting with Circuit. "Circuit, are we clear?"

"Yes," Circuit said.

"All right, we're leaving in the morning," Jen said, "and we all know that Time Force isn't going to like this. They'll try to split us up."

"How," Katie asked, "I'm not going to let them take my morpher."

"They can't, with the DNA lock on them, we're the only ones who can, until we die or hand them over voluntarily." Trip said. "I've made modifications too; they can't put an inhibitor on them either. We're Rangers until we can't be Rangers anymore."

"They'll promote us," Jen said, "Katie, that's what you'll have to look for. You've been in the Ranger Program for a long time. They'll try to promote you to run something. Fight it, but they can make it go through. She glanced around, "We've all kept our mouths shut about the SPD Treaty, but now, it traps us. If we stay in the future. Trip, your show."

Trip reached into his backpack and produced silver watches. "These are based off the Cranston Communicator. They'll teleport you to one place, the Power Memorial. The TF Eagle is there in our time, and it still works. It can take you where you need to go."

"What's the catch?" Katie asked.

"We can't go all at once," Jen said, "and they'll look for us in in this time."

"If we can't go at once, then, who takes the TF Eagle?" Lucas asked.

"You will," Jen told him. "You'll be the last. That's why this is all you're going to know."

"Why me?" Lucas asked.

"Because, you're the best liar on the planet when you want to be. You also have contacts that can hide you when you're ready to run." Jen replied. "I haven't read your file, but I heard about what you did. Time Force sees you as the one most likely to stay loyal. We'll give you plausible deniability. I hate to ask you to do this, but please."

"Fine," Lucas said, after staring at Jen for a long moment. He turned to Trip, "How do I work the watch?"

"Just push the button at the very top of the watch." Trip replied, showing him. "It draws its power from the morpher, so don't do it while morphed." He flipped the watch over and twisted the cover, then turned it right side up. "Holographic images will make people see it as a normal watch form the twenty-first century."

"Great," Lucas said. He took the watch and walked away, strapping it on.

Katie sighed, "He's not mad," she told Jen, "just upset that he's last."

"I know," Jen said, "that's part of why he's last. Trip, you're next."

"Right," Trip said, "I know how I'm getting to the past." He grinned at Katie, "We've got it figured. They're going to send me into R I saw it in Alex's mind. I'll have access to everything I'll need to head back." He handed Katie her fake watch, then Jen, and then went to join Lucas.

"What do I do?" Katie asked.

"I don't know where you'll end up," Jen told her, "but when I leave, that's your cue to get ready. I'm going to come for you, and you're going to leave to find Lucas. You two can't leave until Trip is gone, ok? Take the Eagle back; you're going to go to Hawaii in the twentieth century. We'll meet you there. Then, we'll come back and find Wes and Eric."

"How are we going to blend in?" Katie asked.

"I'll explain later." Jen replied. "For now, we have to go. Wes is waiting."


End file.
